Diabetes Mellitus and Intermittent Claudication: Relation between Peripheral Vascular Complications and Location of the Occlusive Atherosclerosis in the Legs

Forty-seven diabetic patients with intermittent claudication without rest pain or gangrene at the initial examination were followed up over a six-year period. They were compared with 224 non-diabetic patients with intermittent claudication. The cumulative proportions of patients with gangrene were 31% in the diabetic group and 5% in the control group (p less than 0.001). The corresponding figures for rest pain and/or gangrene were 40 and 18%, respectively (p less than 0.001). The frequency of aorto-iliac and multiple stenoses was higher among diabetic patients who developed peripheral vascular complications (rest pain, gangrene) than in the control group. The frequency of multiple stenoses was also higher in the former subgroup than in diabetics without such complications. In conclusion, the degree of involvement of the large vessels in occlusive arterial disease influences the risk of development of peripheral vascular complications in diabetic patients with intermittent claudication.